Sven Guide

Items

Starting:

• Iron Branch gives Sven much needed stats, also additional regeneration combined with Tango.
• Tangos are needed for early health regeneration.
• Healing Salve gives rapid health regeneration, at a higher cost.
• Stout Shield helps Sven deal with harassment in lane.
• Enchanted Mango gives burst mana replenish which allows for an additional Storm Hammer in a pinch.
• Quelling Blade can be picked up to help Sven last hit more efficiently.
• Clarity potions can be useful due to Sven`s small mana pool and large mana cost on Storm Hammer, and is more likely bought by a supportive Sven.

Early-game:

• Poor Man`s Shield is a upgrade from Stout Shield and help Sven tank harassment in forms of attack.
• Boots of Speed increases Sven`s moderate movement speed, allows him to attack a few more times while chasing and escape.
• Magic Stick is a good choice when faced with heavy lane harassment in forms of skills.
• Soul Ring is sometimes bought so that Sven can use Storm Hammer more frequently.

Core:

• Magic Wand is a good choice to consolidate Magic Stick`s functionality and the minor attribute boosts when starting with Iron Branches.
• Power Treads synergize well with Sven`s build due to the bonuses in attack speed and its requirement of Belt of Strength.
• Black King Bar   Item   Changelogs     Black King BarB A powerful staff imbued with the strength of giants. Cost3975 (1375) Bought FromArmor Active Avatar Bonus +10 Strength+24 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe is the most important core item for Sven. It is his only defense against disables Disables (also called crowd control, or CC) refer to any abilities or status effects that prevent, impede, or otherwise inhibit a Hero from acting. Disables come in many different varieties, and most Heroes have access , and provides a good boost to Sven`s strength and damage. However sometimes the item could be purchased later since it does not increase your farm speed.

Situational:

• Drum of Endurance will enable Sven to quickly get into combat and survive teamfights. It can be bought if Sven`s early game does not go well enough to afford bigger items.
• Mask of Madness compensates for his low attack and move speed. With lifesteal, Sven can recover his health with just a few hits on the enemy.
• Armlet of Mordiggian is a good early teamfight item as it provides overall growth in damage and attack speed as well as additional health and armor while active. Its active could be switched twice in quick succession in a pinch to gain additional health.
• Echo Sabre essentially acts as a crit, allowing Sven`s burst to increase significantly for a cheap price. With Daedalus   Item   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Daedalus A weapon of incredible power that is difficult for even the strongest of warriors to control. Cost5320 (1000) Bought FromWeapons Passive Critical Strike Bonus +80 , Echo Sabre gives Sven twice the chance to crit.
• Helm of the Dominator is an alternative to Mask of Madness, providing more stats than speed, and also allowing Sven to dominate a creep and use them to stack camps with it, allowing him to farm quickly thanks to his cleave.

Gameplay

Playstyle
Sven   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Sven 23 + 3 21 + 2 16 + is the embodiment of strength, a mighty front line fighter capable of dealing tremendous physical damage to groups of foes at once. A well farmed Sven can destroy an enemy in just a few hits, overpowering other carries with sheer burst damage. Be that as it may, Sven is vulnerable to kiting and disables Disables (also called crowd control, or CC) refer to any abilities or status effects that prevent, impede, or otherwise inhibit a Hero from acting. Disables come in many different varieties, and most Heroes have access , and generally has a slower attack speed than most carries.
Pros	Cons
Very high melee damage. Good at clearing groups. Reliable AoE stun. Farms quickly.	Low mana. Low attack speed. Highly dependent on Black King Bar   Item   Changelogs     Black King BarB A powerful staff imbued with the strength of giants. Cost3975 (1375) Bought FromArmor Active Avatar Bonus +10 Strength+24 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe . Easily kiteable.

Videos

Info

Hero

Strategy

Counters   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Contents 1 Bad against... 1.1 Others 1.2 Items 2

Equipment   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Most of Sven s equipment turns red when using God s

Gear   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     This is a list of cosmetic items that reflects

Responses   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     v • d • e  Voice responses Hero responses Abaddon Alchemist Ancient Apparition Anti-Mage

Sounds   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     v • d • e  Dota 2 Sounds Hero Sounds Abaddon Alchemist Ancient Apparition

Lore   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Sven, the Rogue Knight Sven is the bastard son

Old Abilities   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Storm Bolt (pre 6.60) PlayQT AbilityTarget Unit AffectsEnemies DamageMagical

Changelogs   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Contents 1 Version history 2 Patch history Version history

Known Bugs   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Storm Hammer edit] Storm Hammer uses the wrong AoE

Carry

Sven is usually played as a carry. His Great Cleave works like a built-in Battle Fury For the cosmetic item equipped by Faceless Void, see Battlefury (Equipment).   Item   Changelogs     Battle FuryB The bearer of this mighty axe gains the ability to cut down swaths of enemies at , and allows him to kill waves of creeps in no time. While his Storm Hammer can make for some early ganks, Sven should spend most his time farming. The goal is to obtain a Black King Bar   Item   Changelogs     Black King BarB A powerful staff imbued with the strength of giants. Cost3975 (1375) Bought FromArmor Active Avatar Bonus +10 Strength+24 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe , then a crit item like Daedalus   Item   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Daedalus A weapon of incredible power that is difficult for even the strongest of warriors to control. Cost5320 (1000) Bought FromWeapons Passive Critical Strike Bonus +80 , which multiplies the damage from his God`s Strength to deliver his crushing blows.

Support

Sven is occasionally played as an early support. Using this build, his role is to buy a Blink Dagger For the cosmetic item equipped by Axe, see Little Blink Dagger.   Item   Changelogs     Blink DaggerBL The fabled dagger used by the fastest assassin ever to walk the lands. Cost2250 Bought FromArcane , then jump in to initiate with Storm Hammer. As the game progresses, Sven can transition into a carry. Although transitioning a dedicated support into a carry is not often ideal and difficult to execute, this can give your team an edge in long games.

Ability Builds

Talents

Hero Talents   Main   Table of Gained Bonuses     The Talent Selection interface. Talents are traits unique to each hero. They are chosen every 5th level starting at level 10, offering a permanent choice between
-8s Storm Hammer Cooldown	25	+65 Damage
20% Evasion	20	+30 Attack Speed
+8 All Stats	15	+20 Movement Speed
+225 Mana	10	+6 Strength Strength is the attribute that grants health and health regeneration. For each point of strength a hero gets: 20 Health 0.06 Health regeneration Additionally, strength heroes also get 1 attack damage per strength point. To

Notes:

• Upgrading mana increases maximum mana capacity and keeps the current mana percentage.

• The evasion stacks multiplicatively with other sources of evasion.

• The attack damage is added as bonus attack damage, and therefore does not benefit illusions.

General

• Ranged heroes can easily harass Sven in lane. Make sure he is paired with a support hero.
• Sven is very easy to shut down with good crowd control. Therefore, Sven players need to know exactly when to use their Black King Bar   Item   Changelogs     Black King BarB A powerful staff imbued with the strength of giants. Cost3975 (1375) Bought FromArmor Active Avatar Bonus +10 Strength+24 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe , and when to conserve the charge.

Storm Hammer

• Storm Hammer is one of the best stuns in the game, with a large AoE radius to catch several enemies at once.
• Each point in Storm Hammer increases the ability`s damage by 75 points of damage. It may be more efficient to spend your skill points into other abilities first if you are not in need of the damage increase early in the game.
• Storm Hammer should be used judiciously, as Sven has very low natural mana.
• Storm Hammer has a very bright and visible effect, and can be disjointed Shadow Fiend using a Blink Dagger to dodge Phantom Assassin s Stifling Dagger Disjointing is the act of dodging projectiles, or rather, to cause a projectile to fully lose track of its target. A disjoint is .
• Despite its cast range, it may be useful to conserve Storm Hammer until Sven is relatively close or uses Blink Dagger For the cosmetic item equipped by Axe, see Little Blink Dagger.   Item   Changelogs     Blink DaggerBL The fabled dagger used by the fastest assassin ever to walk the lands. Cost2250 Bought FromArcane . This ensures that enemies do not spread apart during the projectile`s travel time, and maximizes Sven`s time to land hits on the target.

Great Cleave

• Sometimes it may be wise to avoid leveling Great Cleave early on, as it will greatly push the lane towards the enemy tower, thus making farming more difficult.
  • Later in the game, points in Great Cleave is what will allow Sven to farm quickly.
• With enough points in Great Cleave, stacking neutral camps is a viable farming strategy for Sven, as he can clear them fairly easily with most of his skills and gain a gold advantage.
• Great Cleave grants Sven a surprisingly long reach for a melee hero. It is possible for you to indirectly harass your opponents through the splash damage.
• Take note that the splash damage from Great Cleave is not reduced by armor values. As such, try to target enemies with low armor as it will greatly increase the damage taken by any surrounding opponents.

Warcry

• While Warcry should always be used before an engagement, its extra speed and armor can also be used to disengage from a losing fight.
• Warcry`s armor allows Sven to skip Assault Cuirass   Item   Changelogs     Assault Cuirass Forged in the depths of the nether reaches, this hellish mail provides an army with increased armor and attack speed. Cost5250 (1300) Bought FromArmor Passive Assault Aura sometimes for more aggressive items like Moon Shard   Item   Changelogs     Moon ShardS Said to be a tear from the lunar goddess Selemene. Cost4000 Bought FromCommon Active Consume Charges 1 Passive Shade Sight Bonus +120 Attack speed Disassemble? No Alert .
• A high level Warcry allows Sven and his allies to tank physical damage abilities such as Omnislash and Quill Spray.
• Warcry`s buff is purgeable For the commentator and player, see Purge (player) A Purge is a combination of basic dispel and movement speed (and sometimes also attack speed) slow. In some cases, they also apply root, preventing units from , so beware of enemy purge skills and Diffusal Blade   Item   Changelogs     Diffusal BladeB An enchanted blade that allows the user to cut straight into the enemy s soul. Cost3150 (700) Bought FromArtifacts Active Purge Charges 8 Passive Manabreak Bonus +25/35 Agility+10/15 .

God`s Strength

• God`s Strength is the ability that lets a farmed Sven kill heroes in two or three hits.
• God`s Strength lasts 25 seconds with only 80 seconds of cooldown, meaning that it can be used outside of teamfights.
  • Stacked Ancient creeps Neutral creeps are a type of creep not controlled by any player. They are aligned to neither of the teams, and offer an alternative source of gold and experience. Neutral creeps appear in small camps are ideal to use God`s Strength on.
  • Use it to quickly take down a tower Buildings are special units that are immune to most spells, use structure armor, and are immobile. Destroying a building rewards you with a bounty, similar to most creeps or heroes. Destroying towers rewards the entire or barracks Buildings are special units that are immune to most spells, use structure armor, and are immobile. Destroying a building rewards you with a bounty, similar to most creeps or heroes. Destroying towers rewards the entire and gain a map advantage.
• Because of its long duration, don`t hesitate to use it "too early" before a fight. Being jumped without God`s Strength active is a huge waste of Sven`s potential.
• God`s Strength benefit from items that increase Sven`s strength like Heart of Tarrasque   Item   Changelogs     Heart of TarrasqueS Preserved heart of an extinct monster, it bolsters the bearer s fortitude. Cost5200 Bought FromArmor Passive Health Regeneration Bonus +40 Strength+500 Health Disassemble? No Alert allies? No , not items that increase raw damage.
  • Critical Strike from Daedalus   Item   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Daedalus A weapon of incredible power that is difficult for even the strongest of warriors to control. Cost5320 (1000) Bought FromWeapons Passive Critical Strike Bonus +80 still increases the damage a lot.
• Coupled with any item source of lifesteal Lifesteal allows the attacking unit to gain health when damaging an enemy, which includes any attack modifier with attack damage. The lifesteal ability can be gained via items, passive abilities or the auras of other , hits while God`s Strength is active can replenish Sven`s health very quickly.
• Be aware of your opponents` movement speed and abilities when activating God`s Strength, as most heroes will attempt to kite Sven during the buff.